Sharp Sidekick 3 Review - Camera
 One of the big complaints heard from Sidekick II owners was that it had a lousy camera. The Sidekick 3 packs an improved 1.3 Megapixel camera with a flash light. The camera is a step up from the SK II's VGA camera, but it's still not all that impressive.
The camera can capture still photos at three resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 (1.3 MP). Video capture is not supported. Camera settings are minimal, with adjustments available for flash on/off/auto, Normal or Night (low light) exposure, and Sharpness On/Off. Additional settings for JPEG quality and American vs European fluorescent light interference are somewhat hidden away in a separate menu.
Photos taken with the Sidekick 3 look okay on a computer screen and pretty lousy on the SK 3's screen. The former is because the camera just isn't that great. As with most cell phone cameras, photos taken in bright, naturally lit settings look pretty good but anything taken in less than ideal light comes out grainy and dim. The latter problem also has to do with the Sidekick 3's screen, which is 2.6" in size but relatively low -resolution at 240 x 160 pixels supporting 65,00 colors. The result is an unnatural, washed-out look when viewing photos. That's too bad, because the integrated photo viewer and slideshow functionality is rather nice to use.
The "flash" on the SK 3 is really an LED light that can be turned on manually or automatically just before a photo is taken. This system is common on today's cameraphones but really doesn't help very much in low-light settings. Photos taken with the flash on tend to have a grainy or otherwise unnatural look to them that's different but not much more accurate than those taken with the flash off. Photos can be easily attached to emails or transferred to a computer via Bluetooth or on a MiniSD memory card.
Next: Messaging, Internet & Connectivity »Reviews by manufacturerVerizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Sanyo, HTC, Palm, BlackBerry, Sharp, Pantech, BenQ, Apple, Eten, o2IntroductionYou've seen it on TV and in the movies, and you've seen it in the hands of celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. T-Mobile's Sidekick 3 is the favorite gadget of many on-the-go hipster, and with good reason. Built for E-Mail and instant messaging as much as for phone calls, the SK3 is a 21st Century communicator with fun design touches meant to appeal to the young - or young at heart - user. Is the... All of the Sidekick 3's features are accessed from a central "Jump Menu" which features colorful Application icons and graphics arranged in an arc that you scroll through with the trackball or D-Pad. Applications include Download Catalog (access to ringtones, games, and other applications that can be purchased from the device), Instant Messaging, Email, Phone, Text Messages, Address Book, Web Browser, Organizer, Camera, Music Player, and... The screen on the Sidekick 3 is a mixed bag. While the 2.75" TFT screen offers plenty of real estate, decent brightness, and 65,000 colors, it's rather low-res at a resolution of 240 x 160 pixels. As such, text and menus lack crispness, colors don't "pop," and many images look somewhere between lackluster and horrible. Menus and other interface elements were designed with the limitations of the screen in mind, so after awhile I... This device is all about messaging, and messaging is where it shines. Between the QWERTY board, the trackball, and the Danger OS, IMing and Text Messaging is easy - if not downright addicting - on the Sidekick 3. The integrated IM program features three separate clients for AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger, and keeping tabs on multiple conversations is easy with the trackball and menu shortcuts.
As mentioned before, the... The Sidekick hiptop communicator has always been a unique device that's more than a cell phone, less than a laptop, and designed and marketed for IM-obsessed youth. In its third iteration, the Sidekick has grown up some with a refined QWERTY keyboard and trackball that make navigating its user interface and multiple communications options a breeze. Though the SK 3 falters some when it comes to it's low-resolution screen and lack of...
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